FIFA calls for truce in Ukraine during World Cup

FIFA President Gianni Infantino called on November 15 to observe a month-long ceasefire in Ukraine during the World Cup, assuring that sport can play a unifying role. “I appeal to all of you to consider a temporary one-month ceasefire for the duration of the World Cup,” he said at a dinner for G20 leaders gathered on the Indonesian island of Bali.

Vladimir Putin is clearly absent from this meeting of leaders of the world’s largest economies, where Russia is represented by the head of diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov. In the absence of a truce, the sports manager awarded by the head of the Kremlin after the 2018 World Cup mentioned the possibility of “humanitarian corridors, where everything that can lead to the resumption of dialogue.”

He praised the unifying role of football, recalling that Russia hosted the 2018 FIFA World Cup and that Ukraine was a candidate to host the competition in 2030 along with Spain and Portugal. “We are not so naive as to think that football can solve the world’s problems,” he admitted. But the World Cup offers a unique platform with an estimated audience of five billion viewers, offering “an opportunity to do everything we can to end all conflict,” he said.

In preparation for the tournament, which starts on November 20, Qatar has faced widespread criticism over its treatment of migrant workers, women and the LGBTQ+ community. World Cup organizers responded by saying that “no country is perfect”.